ON THE PROBLEM OF COUNTERACTING THE SPREAD OF DRUG ADDICTION IN THE SAMARA REGION

The paper presents the results of a sociological study of the perception of drug abuse situation by the Samara Region population. For the research, the authors interviewed 2043 residents of the Samara Region living both in urban and rural settlements. The author’s attention focused on the subjective values of the population’s perception of drug addiction as a social phenomenon. The results of the study carried out at a high representative level made it possible to identify the peculiarities of existing public opinion of the Samara Region population about the spreading of harmful habits in general and drug addiction in particular. The study states that the drug addiction problem takes sixth place only by its urgency in public perception. Nearly half of the interviewed people are aware of the importance of the drug addiction problem. Among the key reasons for the drug addiction situation, most respondents mention life dissatisfaction, social deprivation, moral degradation of society, and the lack of organized leisure. The authors note that according to the obtained data, the interviewed people consider conscious negative attitude to the drug usage, the preventive work with the youth on the promotion of a healthy lifestyle, and the punitive measures the most effective for the struggle with drugs. Using the key questions of the checklist, the authors identified the significant difference of the positions according to the age groups of the surveyed people. For example, most admitted tried drugs for the first time in the age intervals from 16 to 29. The authors conclude the problems of drug addiction result from the deviant behavior forms among youth, however, the reasons for such behavior are caused by the complex of social and economic factors.